Vallejo, CA Food Trucks & Mobile Vendors: Food Truck Permits (2026)

Any vehicle from which food is sold at retail in Vallejo, if it operates 'in conjunction with a commissary or other permanent food facility,' meets the state's definition of a 'mobile food facility' under Health and Safety Code Section 113831(a). The California Retail Food Code, amended by SB 972 (Stats. 2022, Ch. 489, effective January 1, 2023), also created a narrower category, the 'compact mobile food operation,' defined in subsection (c) as a facility that 'operates from an individual or from a pushcart, stand, display, pedal-driven cart, wagon, showcase, rack, or other nonmotorized conveyance.' That distinction matters for permitting: Section 114368.1(a) exempts a compact operation with 25 square feet or less of display area selling only prepackaged, non-potentially-hazardous food and whole uncooked produce from most of the Retail Food Code, though it must still comply with Sections 113980, 114047, 114049, 114390, 114393, 114397 and 114399. Every other compact operation, and every motorized food truck, 'is subject to permitting and routine inspections or inspections on the basis of a consumer complaint or just cause' under subsection (b), and the local enforcement agency 'may recover the costs of investigation and enforcement' under subsection (c).

In Vallejo that local enforcement agency is the Solano County Environmental Health Department, which the city's own Mobile Food Vending chapter (VMC 16.327.02) requires every operator to obtain 'a valid permit' from before vending on private property, on top of a city business license, a zoning compliance review, and any necessary building and fire department approvals. A signed commissary lease, itself approved by Solano County Health, must also be on file. Operating without the county health permit, or beyond the narrow 25-square-foot exemption, exposes an operator to the routine and complaint-driven inspections the state code authorizes, plus recovery of the county's investigation costs.